As AG Garland Talks
Fentanyl and Hate Crimes Court
Transparency Duty of DOJ Come to
Fore
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Nov 27 – When US Attorney
General Merrick Garland came
to New York City on November
27 his stated focus was not on
the financial crimes that
consume so much media coverage
but on guns and fentanyl and
now, amid the Gaza war, hate
crimes.
Unmentioned, but
by the Press outside, was the
Department of Justice's duties
on court transparency in their
criminal cases.
Defendant after
defendant, in asking to seal
sentencing letters and even
memo, says that "the
Government takes no
position."
But it should.
Take for example Binance's
Changpeng Zhao's bond
co-signers, still sealed in
the U.S. District Court for
the Western District of
Washington. These same suretor
documents, Inner City Press
filed to unseal as to Sam
Bankman-Fried. Southern
District of New York Judge
Lewis A. Kaplan ruled that
they had to be unsealed. But
DOJ takes no position on
CZ's?
OneCoin
co-founder Sebastian Greenwood
filed all of his sentencing
letters under seal, and SDNY
prosecutors took no position.
Now Inner City Press has filed
a Notice of Appeal, and SDNY a
notice of appearance. To keep
the letters
sealed?
On November 28,
we'll learn DOJ's position on
the complete sealing of narco
defendant Tomas Colon's
sentencing memo. The list goes
on.
Here is a pool
summary of some of what AG
Garland *did* say:
He welcomed the
return of 4-year-old hostage
Abigail Edan and said he hoped
to see the return of more
hostages. He said the DOJ
stands ready to assist
victims’ families.
Garland said the DOJ remains
vigilant in the face of
hate-fueled violence and
terrorism, and said there has
been a sharp increase in the
volume and frequency of
threats against Jewish, Muslim
and Arab communities across
the country.
Garland said the
FBI and ATF were investigating
the "tragic" shooting of three
Palestinian men in Burlington,
including whether it was a
hate crime. “No
person and no community in
this country should have to
live with the fear of
hate-fueled violence,” Garland
said.
Law
enforcement officials in
attendance were NYPD
Commissioner Edward Caban,
U.S. Marshal Ralph Sozio,
Christie Curtis, Robert
Kissane, Anthony Bivona, Eric
Reese, Paul Roberts, Frank
Tarantino, Ivan Arevalo of HSI
Investigations, Patrick
Freaney, Thomas Fantorusso,
John De Vito
Garland went on
to discuss efforts to disrupt
violent crime and fentanyl
trafficking. He
said one of the defendants in
the case involving the
1-year-old’s death in the
Bronx daycare had fled to
Mexico, but that the DOJ was
able to secure his return to
the United States.
He also mentioned the
extradition of Juan Ovidio
Guzman from the “Chapitos”
case and the recent capture in
Mexico of Nestor Perez, also
known as “El Nini” and said
the U.S. was seeking his
extradition.
But then OK
with the sealing of financial
affidavits and
suretors? Watch
this site
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2023 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|